Vaccine group says 5 million-plus lives can be saved over next few years in poor countries

Friday, October 31, 2014

GAVI Alliance believes its five-year plan to vaccinate another 300 million children worldwide will save at least 5 million lives. It will also save billions of dollars now lost to treatment of the preventable illnesses and other costs, like parents’ lost wages, members of the alliance said.

GAVI is short for Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. It’s an international effort that brings public and private resources together to provide vaccines to end preventable deaths like diarrhea and pneumonia. Alliance representatives have been visiting newsrooms and elected officials across America as part of a push to secure increased funding for vaccination efforts.

Congress currently appropriates $200 million a year to the international GAVI vaccination alliance, but under a new five-year plan, the organization hopes to increase that contribution to $250 million a year for four years. The group’s supporters include the World Health Organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, LDS Charities, UNICEF and others.